1) The title of the email was "Hit Me Baby, One More Time". This is for an event in support of a charity fighting violence against women. Good job.
2) To celebrate IWD, some places give women get a discount, or a gift. But the pigeon people suggest women have to wear less than fully clad costumes. Why thank you for telling women how to dress! That's both novel and liberating. Perhaps you could also tell us what to do with our bodies?
3) Of all the women's heroes, we're celebrating "girl groups" (sic)? Including Brittney, apparently? I mean they weren't the worst, but not exactly the empowering role models we seek to celebrate.
4) Finally, if you win, guess what? You get a "big boy surprise". What women seek after wearing a costume, is judgement and surprises from the male gender. That makes us feel empowered!
I sent a nice note back to the Pigeon people, along with AWARE, the NGO. Here is the response:
From AWARE (3 separate notes, and an offer for a call).
Thank you for writing to us to flag this issue. I am glad that you did.
We are very disappointed that this happened. It is offensive and goes against what we stand and fight for. In fact, we are often on the side calling out things like this. [...] We are working with the restaurant to see what can be done to rectify the issue.
I am really sorry for the distress that this may have caused you and others. Thank you for speaking up and holding us accountable to our own standards and which we wish to see in society.
Conclusion: AWARE is awesome, check them out.
First of all, we’d like to thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with us and bring the potential double meaning of our original messaging to light. As continuous supporters of AWARE, it was not at all our intention to offend or upset the same community which we aim to support. We understand that this was a big oversight on our part, and we’d like to extend our sincerest apologies. Upon receiving your feedback we adjusted our messaging.
[...explaining IWD to me...]
[...explaining why 90's girl bands is a good theme...]
In regards to the dress up theme, it is not at all compulsory and only a suggestion intended for fun. There are a number of different women represented in our visual, only some of whom are baring skin. As much as we respect these styles do not align with everyone’s views of equality, there are also many women who believe being able to wear or not wear certain styles of clothing is a form of expression and empowerment. Some of these women are represented in our team, and had great influence in coordinating this event. Given this year’s IWD theme is about celebrating differences, we do feel this is appropriate.
[...justification of why women don't get an IWD discount...]
